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Cedar Rapids Gazette (Newspaper) - December 31, 1974, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
The Cedar Rapids Gazette: Tues., Dec. 31, 1374
Raises for State Employes Likely
Iowa ARRA Education Agencies 1974-7S
By Val rarify
DES MOINES (AP) - State employes are likely to get some kind of cost-of-living pay hike next year, but no one is sure how much.
Proposals ranged from 5 to 12 percent and more by legislators answering an Associated Press survey.
Most legislators answering the survey said state employes should receive some kind of pay hike, with no individual lawmaker saying there should be no state employe raise at all.
A few, however, said any pay increase would depend on the amount of money available in the state treasury.
Most state senators answering the survey declined to indicate a specific pay increase proposal, saying they would rather wait to see how much money is available and how much the cost of living has in
creased by the time the legislature passes money bills.
Specific
Suggestions
Those who were specific recommended increases in the eight to ten percent range.
State representatives wert' more inclined to give specific recommendations.
The house members were fairly evenly divided between those in the five to seven percent increase recommendation and those who believed state employes should receive pay hikes of eight to 12 percent.
Many representatives said state employes should receive the same increase as the federal cost-of-living index. That index has been running just over 12 percent in the last few months.
Rep. Frank Crabb (R-Denison) said he would introduce a
bill “to provide a cost of living increase for all public employes based on the . . . cost-of-living index — the same as 45 of the largest companies m the state have "
Sen -elect Fred Soiling (D-Waterloo) goes for the same approach, funding the increases through a revised 'tate income tax, raising the tax for those rn upper brackets
Accept Any Proposal
Sen. Lucas Defroster (R Hull) said he feels the legislature should accept whatever proposal is made by the state merit system study.
“We set up the merit system, we should list1 it,” Defroster said
Sen. Richard Ramsey (R-Oseeola) contends the raises should be lower than the cost-of-living increase in an effort
to slow inflation rather than firing inflation
Sen. Elizabeth Shaw (R-Davenport) said individual salaries should tie set by the job market rather than through living costs, but "undoubtedly some general increase is warranted in view of current inflation.”
Rep. Donald Avenson (D-Oelwein) disagrees, saying “I don't feel the state can ask its employes to accept a loss in buying power year after year.”
Sen. Roger Shaff (R Camanche! says state employes should receive increases “to the extent that money is available without a general tax increase in two years.”
Rep Senior Tofte (R-Deeor* ah) said the percentage of state employe pay hikes is one subject “where no two people will ever agree "
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AEA Administrators Named
Iowa Couple's Son Safe After Laos Siege
ALGONA — Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Johnson. Algona, said Monday they were “greatly relieved” that their son reached safety after a week under siege by Laotian rebels.
Wayne Johnson, jr., 32. was one of 19 American civilians to reach safety at Vientiane, Laos. Monday,
The former Drake university track captain and his wife were flown to Vientiane from Ban Houei Sal, a town 240 miles northwest of the Laotian capital.
The 1959 Algona high school graduate has been with the United States agencyfor international development fr several years and has been in Laos for four years
The couple spent two weeks visiting relatives in Algona in October before returning to Laos.
Johnson said he had not heard from the state department or from AID officials about his son s plight or his flight to safety.
“He was way out in the sticks, and all I know about his situation now is what I read in the paper,“Johnson said.
River Crossing At Keokuk To Cost More
KEOKUK (AP) — Soon it will cost motorists an extra nickle to drive from Keokuk to Illinois, or vice versa
The Keokuk bridge commission has announced plans to institute a five-cent increase in the toll charged for automobiles and pickup trucks eros* sin the Mississippi river bridge
Commissioners said Monday the increase to a lucent toll — expected to go into effect later this week — is necessary to meet increasing costs of operation and maintenance
A inn WM) paint job to refurbish the* bridge accounted for part of this year's tho.IMM) deficit, a commission spokesman aid
The increase is expected to provide an additional Smmmni annually.
The toll increase will be the first since the early !95os
New Snag for Historical Unit
By Harrisaa Weber
DES MOINES (IDRA) -The attorney general’s office has cast a legal cloud on action taken recently by the new ly-created state historical board because a quorum has not been present.
The board has been caught in the middle of a controversy involving the state historical society
In an opinion issued Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth A Nolan, notes there are only six members at present on the department board, those appointed by the governor.
The remaining six are to come from the ranks of the state historical society
There has been a reluctance on the part of some officials of the society to put the machinery in motion to elect six board members for fear it would mean the demise of t e society which dates back to 1856
Paw pries*
The department board is now powerless to take any official action, according to Miss Nolan, because a quorum (seven members) is impossible unless the six state historical society members are elected
She cites a section of the Iowa code which provides that a quorum of a public body is a majority of the number of members fixed by statute.
The intent of the legislature was to merge three departments — the historical museum and archives located in Des Moines, the state historical society and the state his-toerical preservation board, both located at Iowa City
The* problem of merging the three departments, Miss Nolan said, is complicated by the fact that sine* 1867 the membership of the historical society has also operated as a legal entity under articles of incorporation.
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“The corporation is not dissolved by the statute which establishes the Iowa state historical department Nor is it the society which is subject to reorganization in the state fusional cepartment Its assets
Bank Interest Rates Drop Sharply During December
DES MOINES (AP)— Interest rates Iowa banks are required to pay on deposits of public funds in January are sharply lower than those set a month ago, State Treasurer Maurice Ba ringer said Monday
On deposits of public money of HW) WM) or more Ba ring cr said, the Iowa rate-setting committee has fixed the maximum rate for 30 to 59 days starting Jan I at I 5 percent.
That is a reduction from the* I) 25 percent maximum the committee set less than 30 days ago. lid ringer said. to 7 50 percent The reduction is I 75 percent in less than 30 days.
The treasurer said rates wert reduced sharply in tither time brackets as well, except that deposits for DMJ days or more will earn the same rate next rn *nth as in December.
Speaking for the rate-setting committee Baringer said Iowa » rates "were competitive at the tine we set them
and powers are separate and distinct," Miss Nolan states in the opinion.
The general assembly has withdrawn from the state historical society most of the authority it formerly exercised as a state agency and relegated it to a position under the supervision of the state historical board, she explained
One question now posed is the legality of the action taken by the historical board on Dec ll when it approved the allocation of $296.(MM) in federal funds to preserve historic buildings rn Iowa Only five members of the board were present when the action was taken.
Assistant Attorney General Nolan said it’s obvious such an impasse can be cured by legislation in the next general assembly.
Riorgani/alion
Ifs also the opinion of the attorney general's office, she said. that the state historical society curators have the power to effect a reorganization by providing for a special el
ection to fill the six open seats on the department board
“The society’s officers and board of curators continue to hold office for the remainder of the terms to which they were elected. The president (of the society) may appoint a committee to obtain nominations for department board members to be elected by the society." Miss Nolan stated
Martion Neely, Iowa City lawyer and president pro tempore of the board of curators. said Tuesday he would call a meeting of the board by the end of next week to develop procedures for electing board members to the state department
The attorney general's opinion was requested by Neely, who had declined to call a meeting for this purpose previously because of uncetamty he felt concerning the legal ability of the board to act. He had requested a clarification of the board’s status to determine if the legislation creating the state department had dissolved the board.
Nibley said he had not re-
Three Service Station Holdups in Iowa City Area
less than a month ago, but they were out of line a short time after that.”
He said treasurers of various government subdivisions reported they had trouble this month putting money in interest-bearing accounts in local banks “because bankers felt unable to pay the interest rates we had authorized "
The law requires the rate setting committee to meet quarterly and fix the interest rates banks must pay on var lous types of deposits of public funds
Baringer said city and county treasurers may negotiate rates with banks up to one percentage point less than the maximum set by the rate setting committee
Baringer said the commit- I tee s goal for January “is to nuke slate rates conform 1 more to the over all downward trend that sems to be developing among all sh<m term investment media ”
IGM A CITY — The Iowa City*'-CoralVille area experienced a rash of service station robberies late Monday night and early Tuesday The first robbery occurred at the Standard station at the corner of Clinton and Burlington streets shortly before 9 31) Monday.
According to the attendent, a car pulled up. a man remained behind the wheel and a woman entered the station She was holding her hand in her coat as if she were armed and demanded money.
The attendent gave her an undetermined sum from the cash register and the two drove off At ll pm, two men entered the Hudson station in Coralville. One man brandished a small caliber automatic pistol while the other tied up the attendent The armed bandit was described as approximately six feel tall, having shoulder-length and wearing a and blue jeans The two men left with an underternnned amount of cash
The attendent described their vehicle as a light blue over dark blue van At 12 Kl a rn , a van of the same description pulled into the Canterbury service station on First avenue in Coralville.
Again two men entered A man with blonde hair told attendent Mark Davis to open the safe Davis refused and
Hurt in Crash
MANCHESTER - Paul Lech ten burg. 20. Masonville, was in good condition at a hospital here after the car in which he was riding crash into a ditch on a county road about I 20 a rn Tuesday The* driver, Maxine McEnany, 19. Ryan, was not hurt.
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said he was then struck over the head from behind When he came to he found an underterm mod amount of money had been taken from the register
ceived a copy of the opinion as of Tuesday and said he will have further comment on the election date after he has read theopmion
Dr Russell Ross. Iowa City, past president of the board, had prev iously declined to call a meeting to elect officers because he had been advised by legal counsel he did not have the authority to do so
In her opinion to Neely, Miss Nolan said members of the* state department board are entitled to $40 per diem plus expenses
East Iowans Are Charged In Fur Thefts
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis (AP) — Three Iowans were being held in Richland county jail Monday on charges of possession and sale of 415 raccoon pelts allegedly stolen from a Chelsea. Iowa. fur company two weeks ago.
The three were identified as Douglas Schott, 20, Cedar Rapids. David Smith. 19. Coggon. and a 17-year-old Cedar Rapids juvenile
Warrants charging the three with larceny have been issued. Tama county, Iowa, authorities said
The three were arrested as they were crossing the Mississippi river bridge between Prairie du Chien and Marquette. Iowa. Friday
Road Construction in Benton at $384,600
brown hair, green parka
VINTON — Benton county's plan* for road construction work in 1975 will cost about I3&4.9MI.
Among the new county projects slated for the 1975 construction season are:
Repaviag a half mile of I 56 leading into Garrison at a cost of $24 (MMI;
Ettir bridge repair project*
— one five miles northeast of Vinton tm road E-16 at a cost «»f $9 4<M». one south of Luzerne at a cost of $9 -nm and two six miles north of Dysart at $9 4<Mi each.
Aha three re gradiag aid
resurfacing projects covering five miles at a cost of $27 Hue
— one project two miles south of Atkins for $9.kMl. two miles of road running west from Iowa 21H and Mi Auburn for $9 -MOO. and one mile of east-west F-66 a mile seuth of Blairstown;
Regrading awe mile af north south road in northwest Benton county one mile east of iowa 219 and a mile south of the ibm ton-Black Hawk county lines at a cest of $9 (MMI. and one box culvert repair on the north tdge of Belle Plaint* at a cost of $4 (MMI
A bridge which washed out east of Belle Plaine during last summer’s heavy rams will be replaced at a cost of $65.(Mm The bridge is one of three heavily damaged last summer. The others have been temporarily taken care of — one was dynamited and dropped into Little Bear (’wk northeast of Newhall to form a low-water crossing The washout on the other over Dry Creek two miles north of Atkins was re filled and the structure embargoed to five tons
The county has received $24.7iM» from the federal civil defense fund to help repair the three bridges, but County Engineer Gerald Petermeier said the whole $24 TW will go to help re build the bridge over Stern creek near Belle Plaine. The future of the other two is uncertain, other than they will hopefully remain in use as they now are
In addition to the* new county projects for 1975. $2U,4o*i has been allotted to complete work begun in prior years but not competed.
The Best Carpet Buys Are At Carpetiand U.S.A.
DES MOINES—Selection of chief administrators for the new Iv-organized Area Education Agency (AEA) boards of directors has been completed throughout the state, according to David Gilliland, consultant in the department, of public instruction.
They will replace the 52 county and joint county superintendents on July I, 1975
Chief administrators named for Eastern Iowa districts are:
Area erne—Richard L Hansen, Fayette-Chickasau superintendent.
Area six—Richard Ploeger. Marshall-Pow-eshiek county superintendent
Area seven—Perry* H Grier, Black Hawk-Buchanan-Grundy county superintendent.
Area Nine—Jerry’ B Stout, Muscat me-Scott Joint County school system superin tendent.
Area ll—Dwight G Bode, Linn-Joint County school system superintendent.
Area IS— Donald G. Roseberrv, Albia Community schools superintendent.
Caution Encouraged; 5 or 6 Deaths Seen
DES MOINES (CPI) -Tuesday night is New Year’s eve — traditionally the most celebrated drinking occasion of the year — and state safety officials art* urging motorists not to mix “holiday spirits” with driving
Despite the warning about staying off the road after a night of celebrating. Deputy Public Safely Commissioner Robert Holetz is predicting five or six deaths will occur on Iowa roads during the 3fl-hour period from 6 p m. Tuesday to midnight Wednesday
“We base that on the averages of the last ten to 12 years.” Holetz said. and we certainly hope we don't have more than that this year.”
Fatalities Dews
Traffic accidents in Iowa last New Years eve and Now
Year’s day took five lives.
Train Car Derails; Blocks Intersection
IOWA CITY—One car dc*? railed on the Crandic line between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids Tuesday morning and blocked the intersection of the Swisher blacktop
No injuries were reported. Officials are investigating the cause of the accident
However, while the year got off to bloody start on Iowa highways, the number of traffic fatalities in the state dropped markely during 1974, with safety officials crediting reduced speed limits for the big drop in deaths.
Iowa department of public safety records as of Monday morning showed 663 traffic deaths in Iowa during 1974, with that figure including only fatalities occurring on public roads
It compares with 811 dying in Iowa accidents during the same period of 1973
Holetz said drinking must be considered when looking at traffic death tolls. He said, * As a general rule. just over one-third of all accidents art* alcohol related ”
Increase Patrols
He said state and local police will increase patrols from idnight to early Wednesday in
an effort to keep intoxicated motorists off the roads.
He said the beefed up patrols are necessary because, despite warnings, people still drive after drinking alcoholic beverage's “We know that regardless of what we say, people will still drink and drive,” Holtez said.
“Me don t live in a cave We try- to be realistic and advise people not to drink excessively and then attempt to drive ”
U. Col. Al Chrystal of the Iowa highway patrol said the increased traffic patrols are not only designed to save innocent persons’ lives but also “to serve notice on the public that if a driver is Intoxicated he or she will be arrested " “We feel like we’re doing them the biggest favor we can do in arresting them.” he added “It s better to have them arrested than injured or killed.’’
Injured
CEDAR FALLS — Richard Davis, 23. Traer, was admitted to a Cedar Falls hospital Monday attention following a collision here between his car and a truck driven by Jerry Nissen’. 34. Cedar Falls Nis-sen was not injured, but was charged with failure to stop for a stop sign.
Judge To Dismiss 50,000 Traffic Tickets
DES MOINES (CPI) — An estimated backlog of 50.(MMI overdue parking and traffic tickets will be dismissed. Chief Polk county District Judge Gibson C. Holiday said Monday Holiday said he plans to meet this week w ith the clerk of court and Sheriff Dick Clemens to determine which of the -50.* (MMI overdue tickets will be dropped
Sheriff's bailiffs are responsible far serviag warrants for •verdi* tickets, bat have aal had the empiayes ar time ta serve them, roaaty aff trials sated
“The exact program for dismissing the charges has not vet been formulated,” Holiday said. adding “A lot of the tickets will be dismissed ”
He saki maay af thase ta be dropped are impassible ta serve becaase the iadividaals live antside af the Des Maine* area ar have since died He said the backing af tickets has beea areamalating since September, 1973, when mare than 31.IM traffic charges were dismissed in a meve ta “clean ap” lac ai tad roan (tackets
Holiday said about 36.(MMI of the 50,(MMI tickets are for non-moiiDg violations such as speeding and failure to obey stop signs, officials said
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